Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has asked that Samson Siasia be fired as Nigeria coach after he failed to qualify the country to the Nations Cup.

Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has asked that Samson Siasia be fired as Nigeria coach after he failed to qualify the country to the Nations Cup.

“When you don’t get the result, the coach has to go. That’s football. Siasia didn’t get the country to the Nations Cup, while (Shuaibu) Amodu and Christian Chukwu did and they still got fired,” said Yakubu in an interview.

“The manager did not do well even after all the power and support he received. He did not help the team.

“We should therefore look for some else to try his luck. (Stephen) Keshi can do the job.”

Yakubu dismissed insinuations that the players may have ganged up to sabotage the coach, saying no player would not want to feature at a big event like the Nations Cup despite the fact some of the big-name stars were at loggerheads with Siasia.

“It’s a disaster, a big shame that we will not be at the Nations Cup. The players will feel it come January when they will have to watch the tournament on television. They wanted to be there and so could not have played not to be there,” he said.

‘The Yak’ has not featured for Nigeria since his unpardonable miss in last year’s World Cup match against South Korea.

He has reportedly cut off contact with Siasia even when the coach tried to reach him when he took over the national team in November.

However, he insisted he has not quit international football.

“I have not retired from the national team and I will be available if I’m picked,” he said.

The technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will meet later Thursday in Abuja to decide the fate of Siasia.

Sports minister Yusuf Sulaiman’s pronouncement that a decision on Siasia’s future is beyond the NFF is believed to have angered the country’s football officialdom just as opinions are divided over the fate of the coach.

Siasia has received support from his peers and younger colleagues, but older coaches have asked for his head, saying he is not matured enough for the country’s top coaching post.

Siasia rode on an overwhelming public support to be named Eagles coach in November, but after the failure at the weekend, such backing has dwindled.

The coach himself has worsened his case by saying on a radio interview that he will not work under any coach.

“I don’t want to work under anybody. If the person doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand him, that becomes another problem,” he insisted.